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Well it’s officially Fall weather despite the weather being a warmer Fall than seasonal temperature and with mid-October already, which means we are in full swing with the season for apples and pumpkins both representing the Fall season. One of my fave seasons is Fall, why? I love the cooler yet sunny days and the beautiful colourful leaves changing. The best thing about Fall is the delicious and warm apple desserts that I pick fresh from the farm.

What are you looking forward to enjoying in the Fall season? What dessert or foods you usually look forward to enjoying? Let me know below in the comments, I always love to hear from my readers.

3rd Feature – Food Travels in Kingston, Ontario AGAIN – Part 2

Fallis also the perfect time for Fall getaways or day trips as its in between the high peak seasons and I usually love travelling at this time to take advantage of the off-season prices, still warm & beautiful weather before winter and less crowded for tourist areas.

This is my 3rd Feature for my Food Travels if you haven’t read my previous ones, I love travelling to new cities or towns to explore and discover new bakeries and restaurants along with the sights and attractions in a new city or town whether it is in Ontario or in Canada or USA. I love sharing my discovery with my readers.

Why I Love Kingston?

Last year, I discovered the beautiful and historic charming city of Kingston and because I fell in love with this charming city so much that I went back to visit Kingston on an one night getaway in the summer back in July to visit one of my friends who recently moved to Kingston.

Kingstonis one of my new fave travel destination and it is the perfect getaway for Spring, Summer or Fall. As I have previously travelled to Kingston in the Fall last year, you can check out my Fall Adventure here -> “My Food Travels – Fall Getaway 2016 to Kingston, ON“. If you haven’t been to Kingston yet, you are definitely missing out. It is located in the Eastern part of Ontario on the end of Lake Ontario where the beginning of the St.Lawerence River is. The city is located midway between Toronto and Montreal. It is known for the “Thousand Islands” tourist region.

A great reason to visit Kingston in the Fall or Spring is that Kingston offers local fresh foods and you can find an array of fresh produce and products at Kingston’s Farmers market.I love fresh and local foods, Kingston is a great place to enjoy local foods. There are a few Farmer’s markets that you can check out during your visit. One of the popular markets is the Kingston Public Market, which is located in Kingston’s historic downtown, right behind City Hall, the Public Market is full of vendors selling the highest quality local produce, prepared foods, garden plants, flowers and handmade crafts. I was able to check it out during my visit in July and loved checking it out discovering some fresh jams and along with handcrafted jewelry.

There are other farmer’s market such as The Memorial Centre Farmers’ Market, The Frontenac Farmers’ Market, and more, which I haven’t been able to check out yet. You can find more information about other farmer’s market on Kingston Tourism site ->www.visitkingston.ca.

Quick Facts on Kingston

Some quick facts on Kingston, Ontario for those who would to know more information on this city:

Kingston is home to Fort Henry and part of the Rideau Canal of UNESCO World Heritage Site

Resting-place of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister

The Best freshwater sailing harbor in North America

Queen’s University, the Royal Military College of Canada and St. Lawrence College

A bustling downtown core with a variety of independent & unique shops and a variety of amazing restaurants to offer

Beautiful parks and trails

Kingston City Hall at Night

My Experience

My 2nd visit to this beautiful & charming city of Kingston was this summer in mid-July 2017.Despite the short visit, I enjoyed every minute being in my new fave travel destination. It was my 1st time though in Kingston in the summer time and loved it!This year it wasn’t a hot summer, but still enjoyed the warm weather while I was in Kingston. This is why Kingston is a perfect destination for Fall as well.

I travelled by VIA Rail Train to Kingston with a stop to Belleville, ON first then to Kingston for an event. I usually travel by VIA Rail Train within Ontario as it’s the easiest, comfortable and relaxing way to travel from Toronto to destinations within Ontario or Quebec. As I previously discussed in my other Travel posts why I love travelling by train, you can check out my Travel Reviews here -> click here for more information about VIA Rail and why I love travelling by train.

On my short summer visit to Kingston, ON, I didn’t get to explore as much as I wanted to. But still had an amazing stay in Kingston catching up with my friend and exploring the downtown area of Kingston more. I love the small town feel in a city like Kingstonwith the beautiful waterfront views and nature surrounding the city!The water views in Kingston are stunning and I never get enough of this amazing view. I enjoyed my overnight stay with shopping, eating of course and sightseeing the downtown core.Of course, I had to stop by the popular “Kingston” large signage by waterfront near City Hall and the train. Love these huge signages around Ontario, Toronto is not the only one now having these signs for tourist spots! 😀

A must stop in Kingston for me is checking out my fave bakery, Cards -> click here, located downtown Kingston and walkable distance to the waterfront afterwards to enjoy their sweet treats. They make my fave Oatmeal Raisin cookies. I love Cards because theyuse quality ingredients with no additives or preservatives and it is homemade. Check out my Kingston – Part 1 for more about my fave bakery, Cards and why I love it. Definitely recommend for all my readers to stop here for a sweet treat as Cards has a large variety of baked goods to try!!

I also love to discover new bakeries or restaurants in Kingston as well with every visit besides returning to my fave places. I love the variety and local food in Kingston, I’m excited to share with you 2 vegan friendly places I found that I didn’t know about in my last visit to Kingston.

New Vegan Friendly Restaurant & Bakery To Check Out in Kingston

Score Pizza

If you are looking for dairy-free pizza like me if you didn’t know, I have a dairy intolerance and now enjoy dairy-free products. I discovered Score Pizza in downtown Kingston who offers custom pizzas with fresh and healthy ingredients made with their stone fire oven where your pizza is ready in minutes.They have a large variety of fresh veggies, meats and cheeses to choose from. They even have gluten free crust. Yes, Score Pizza has vegan cheese, which is perfect for me and those who enjoy dairy-free products.

It’s not often in Toronto that there are places who offer dairy-free cheese so I don’t get to eat pizza as much as I used to. So I was happy and thrilled to have found Score Pizza in Kingston to enjoy a custom order pizza with vegan cheese.

What I love about Score Pizza is that you can custom made the pizza you want it, there are lots of combinations of ways you can enjoy your pizza and made tailored to each individual as we all know, everyone has their own taste!

I custom made my pizza to a chicken, pineapple, mushrooms and tomatoes as I love pineapples in my pizza!! It was simply delicious, their quality of food is excellent!! It was quite busy when I went to Score Pizza on a Friday night, but the service was friendly, helpful and at a pretty fast paced, which I loved. Great atmosphere as well!

If you are looking for a fresh and healthy customized fire oven pizza with a variety of combinations, then look no further than Score Pizza to satisfied all different individual tastes.

Score Pizza interior, *Photo Credit to Score Pizza Official Website*

For more information on Score Pizza, please check out their website -> Score Pizza

A new vegan friendly dessert place I discovered in Kingston is Geneva Crêpe Café, which is a cozy café with a taste of Paris in Kingston.How lovely is that!! This cozy and sweet café is located downtown area of Kingston. What I love about this café that it offers fresh local ingredients and seasonal produce, that’s why I love about what Kingston has to offer.

Geneva Crêpe Café first opened in August 2010 and it specializes in French crepes (savory & sweet), Belgian waffles, homemade soups and seasonal salads. They also offer great choices of espresso and speciality coffee and tea. Geneva Crêpe Café is privately owned and operated and is proud to support local farmers by offering fresh seasonal produce and meat.

What I like about Geneva Crêpe Café is that each crepe is made fresh to order with their fresh and local ingredients. They offer vegan options with their buckwheat batter for a gluten free, dairy free and vegan friendly alternative.

I ordered a custom crepe – Strawberry and mango buckwheat vegan crepe with strawberry sauce and sugar icing on top! I like that they offer a variety of crepes and even do custom made crepes to suit each person taste. It tasted delicious, the sweet fruits and the crepe itself was made fresh and you can tell from the first bite of it, it’s hard to describe how perfect this crepe was. If you didn’t know, I love any mango desserts so this was a perfect dessert for me to end my 1st night in Kingston. I also ordered an Earl Grey tea with soy milk to go. I love that this café is vegan friendly and I’m able to order dairy free products here.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere at the café – a casual and friendly place to enjoy this sweet dessert. Also, the customer service at this café was excellent and friendly. If I had any questions, they were able to answer them and assist me if I needed any help with deciding my order.

If you haven’t stopped at Geneva Crêpe Café in Kingston, then you are definitely missing out on a taste of Paris in Kingston as their crepes are simply the best! You would feel like you were in Paris after enjoying their sweet crepes. Don’t forget to stop at Geneva Crêpe Caféwhen in Kingston…😊

For more information on Geneva Crêpe Café, please check out their website -> Geneva Crêpe Café.

For my 2nd visit in Kingston, ON, I decided to stay at Green Acres Inn, which is conveniently located 10 mins within the downtownarea of Kingston. My last visit, I stayed at a hotel within the core of downtown Kingston, making it easier to walk around downtown.

Green Acres Inn is a charming and spacious Inn making you feel like a country side home with spacious appointed rooms and suites that includes a small kitchenette in the room and modern feel to the room. In most rooms, there is even a whirlpool tub, which my room had and it was great to have to use to relax after a day of walking around downtown. Green Acres Inn has a large spacious space as they have a Victorian Gazebo and a large outdoor pool beautifully situated on seven picturesque acres.

This is a very charming and friendly Inn to escape to for your trip, vacation or getaway to Kingston. It is operated by a family owned Innand very friendly front desk service I received when I checked in and any questions I had during my stay. Also at this Inn, it is also environment friendly as they offer water with water bottles or in jugs for your room.

Overall, I had a great and relaxing stay at Green Acres Inn and loved the beautiful landscape views that it offered.I didn’t feel like I was in the city at all more like in the country and peaceful. I especially loved the outdoor pool as I was lucky to have gone when the weather was warm enough still to use the outdoor pool. I enjoyed a late afternoon swim after I checked in before heading into the downtown Kingston area. I highly recommend this charming, friendly, and beautiful landscaped Inn if you are planning a stay in Kingston and looking for an Inn where it is like a home away from home in the country side.

For more information on Green Acres Inn, please check out their website -> Green Acres Inn.

Another amazing, fun, and foodie adventure getaway to a charming and beautiful city of Kingston, Ontario.If you are still reading this, thank you for letting me share my travel adventure with you I know it was a bit long. 😉 If you haven’t travelled to Kingston yet, I definitely recommend you check out this beautiful and charming city a perfect Fall, Spring and Summer getaway. There is so much Kingston has to offer that you will definitely not be disappoint as this was not my 1st visit and will not be my last one either. I look forward to visiting Kingston again very soon most likely next year!!

It’s a busy month for me in Octoberwith working on ideas for new blog posts, the surprise project I’m working on, which I will be sharing with you guys shortly and of course I’m excited about attending the Food Bloggers of Canada Conference in a few days. Been busy prepping for that as well!

Don’t forget to stay connected with me for the latest blog post updates & especially for the upcoming FBC Conference as I will be doing lots of updates from Ottawa with photos and yes Instagram stories too so look out for all the fun and yummy foods I will be enjoying.

Until next time….will be doing a full blog post on FBC2017 Ottawa once I’m back so look out for that to get the full scoop and if my summer getaway to Kingston, ON isn’t an inspiration for a Fall getaway to enjoy the beautiful Fall scenery in Kingston and the warm weather we still have, what are you waiting for?? 😀✈

As the warm summer days are coming to an end and it is now officially September. I can’t believe how fast our summer went by this year!! Can you?? I took advantage of the last week of August to relax and enjoy the summer days outside when possible with day trips to the beach and more. How did you enjoy your last week of summer??

While summer isn’t quite over yet despite the cooler weather already and feeling like Fall weather. Even though Fall is one of my fave seasons coming up & excited for. One of my fave activities in the summer is attending food festivals.This summer already been to a few food festivals and love sampling new foods to share with you, my readers. As I usually go quite a few food festivals, I will share with you my fave ones (food festivals) and you can always check out my Instagram account@SweetBFoodie24 to see my stories and photos for all the food festivals that I attend. Trying to post a bit more on my Instagram stories when I can. Hope you guys enjoy them!

I love attending food festivals and discovering new foods and learning from vendors!!If you have a suggestion of a food festival that I haven’t attend yet, please let me know. You can leave your comments below! Thanks, I always appreciate any comments and suggestions from you guys!

On Saturday, August 19, 2017 – I attended my 2nd Vegan festival of the summer and this is also my 2nd time attending the Vegan Food & Drink Festival with my sis who is also my foodie partner going to food festivals together. I love sharing my food festival experiences and especially with my sis is a great person who I also call my best friend that I’m so happy that we get to share these experiences together. It is becoming a tradition for us now going to this particular food festival sharing our love for vegan foods! As you know or if you didn’t know, I have lactose intolerance so I enjoy non-dairy products now. Almost a year in a few months where I discovered I am lactose, I am still learning and discovering new dairy-free products and vegan lifestyle. This is a great Vegan festival to discover new vegan foods or re-discover your fave vegan foods!!

If you haven’t been to the Vegan Food & Drink Festival before, here are some basic information about it:

This is the 3rd Annual Vegan Food & Drink Festival

Date: Saturday, August 19, 2017 (One Day Festival)

This event is also hosted in Chicago (June 10, 2017) and New York (October 1, 2017)

Time: 11am – 7pm

Location: Fort York Garrison Commons (same as last year)

What Does the Festival Offer: vegan comfort food, cold drinks, and live entertainment

Vendors: From local & visiting vendors including some USA vendors this year

I was excited to attend my 2nd time at this large Vegan Food & Drink Festival this summer with lots of different vendors to choose from. This year, we got lucky with the weather and it ended up being a warm great summer day for a food festival unlike last year where it rained majority of the day. It was a lot easier to enjoy delicious vegan foods without your umbrella lol!

If you haven’t been to this large Vegan Food & Drink Festival before, I suggest planning ahead and checking out the vendors online and research them before going and get an idea which ones you like to visit. For me, it was still tough to choose and narrow down certain vendors to try. I love the large selection of vendors though to choose from just makes it hard to decide lol! I ended up sampling majority of the vendors I wanted to and some I didn’t and hopefully next time I could. 😊

I felt that this year the layout of the festival was better in terms of flow where the vendors were located and making use of the large Fort York Garrison Commons. There was a bit more seating areas this year. I love the signages that they had around the festival grounds this year a bit more than last year and it created a great addition to the festival. Check out below their famous “Vegan” signthat I took with my sister. I been noticing that most events and festivals are doing the huge word signage ever since the Toronto sign at City Hall started it. I love them though!! 😀

Overall, a great summer day sampling and discovering lots of new vegan foods along with some shopping in between eating lol!!

At the Vegan Food & Drink Festival, besides all the delicious vegan foods, there are also clothing and accessory vendors. One of the vendors, The Imperative is Toronto’s 1st 100% all-vegan shop and the creators of the Vegan Food & Drink Festival itself. It was great to see their merchandise at the festival as I haven’t been to the retail store myself. I ended up getting a cute tee and a button (photo below).

Their retail store offer vegan and cruelty-free products and there were quite a few items at the festival showcasing their products from the store. At their retail store, they offer from t-shirts to beauty products to housewares and more. I’m looking forward to checking out their retail shop one day to see myself what they have to offer!

For more information on The Imperative, you can visit their Facebook page@VeganImperative and Instagram@theveganimperative. Their retail store is located on 1332 Queen St. West, Toronto, Ontario.

One of my fave jewelry vendors was there back at the Vegan Food & Drink Festival, Jewels by SJB. If you haven’t checked out Jewels by SJB, you definitely should as I love her unique and beautiful handmade jewelry. Sue is from Toronto, ON and has a collection of hand forged, cruelty free jewels and creating beautiful detailed pieces. She uses genuine gemstones that includes .925 sterling silver and 14K gold fill metal. She is also a vegan who shares her message through her jewelry.

Of course, I couldn’t resist getting one of her beautiful unique pieces and ended up getting a beautiful necklace – her Gem Drop Necklace with the Purple Amethyst.

Finally what my fave foods were at the festival, I know you guys have been waiting for this. Go check out my faves & delicious photos. 😊

My Fave Savoury foods from the Vegan Food & Drink Festival are:

1.Boon Burger – I was excited to see Boon Burger as one of the vendors at this festival as I discovered Boon Burger a few weeks ago and visited their Burlington location and loved it! Of course, I had to sample one of their delicious vegan burgers as there are no locations in Toronto. If you haven’t heard of Boon Burger, it is Canada’s First All Vegan Burger Café.Boon Burger offers “100% cruelty free food, that tasted delicious and that was ultimately a better choice for our health as well as the environment.” They are opening a new location in the Fall 2017 in Hamilton. Hoping one day for a Toronto location, but for now I can always venture over to Burlington for the best vegan burgers.

I had their Festival Burger made with black bean patty at the festival with their sweet Peach Chutney sauce. It was delicious!! As I’m not a full vegan, you can’t tell that the patty is made from black bean and I love that this is a healthier version of an actual meat burger. I love their vegan burgers!! After trying their burgers a few weeks ago, I’m still impressed with Boon Burger and their high quality food along with their friendly customer service at the booth. I highly recommend checking out Boon Burger if you have a chance in Burlington or Hamilton (opening Fall 2017).You can check their website for other locations (Barrie, Guelph).

For more information on Boon Burger, you can visit their website at www.boonburger.ca.

You can follow them on their social media networks on Facebook Burlington one@BoonBurgerBurlington, Twitter Manitoba location one@BoonBurger and Instagram Burlington one@BoonBurgerBurlington. Check their website for the location social media you are looking for they have different ones.

2.Champs Diner – My 2nd fave savoury dish from Champs Diner who is one of the US vendors that came to Toronto. Champs Dineris from Brooklyn, New York serving New York’s fave all-vegan diner with American’s comfort food for about 5 years now. I was excited to also try some of their foods as I heard good review about them.

I had their Tofu Benedict Waffle Fries only as I was getting full by the time I reached their booth and I’m hoping next time I get to try their vegan burger too. But I simply love their Tofu Benedict Waffle Fries with fried tofu, fried ham, cherry tomatoes and homemade Hollandaise sauce.I’m not a fan of Hollandaise sauce too much, but it was light and not overpowering the dish, which I loved about it.

When I visit New York next time, now I know where to go for delicious and comfort American all-vegan diner food. I can’t wait to visit their actual diner!! If you are one of my readers in the USA, then I highly recommend you go visit their diner and try their delicious and homemade vegan foods.

My Fave Desserts from the Vegan Food & Drink Festival are:

1.Chimp Treats – I love my ice cream, but now that I’m dairy free it’s a bit harder to find dairy free ice cream. I discovered Chimp Treats at the festival and they have their Nice Cream frozen dessert that are 100% made from fruits. I love their booth too – very colourful and cute designs! It is a creamy frozen dessert made entirely from bananas. They have their three flavours: classic Banana, Mango Banana and Strawberry Banana. It is fat free, low calorie and no sugar added.

I tried their Mango Bananasample at the festival and loved it!! It is soft and creamy with the right amount of sugar and I can taste the mango in there. I definitely loved it!! I highly recommend you try it too. I can’t wait to get my own pint of Nice Cream at a grocery store!Will be checking out where they sell them.

2.Glory Hole Doughnuts – One of my fave pastry dessert at the show is definitely Glory Hole Doughnuts. Their doughnuts are hand-made and fresh everyday with real and local ingredients! They make 3 different types of doughnuts – yeast, cake and vegan. They rotate their flavours seasonally.

I was lucky enough to sample their Vegan Hibiscus Berry Glazed doughnut – it had a hint of rose tea infused flavour in it and loved how moist, soft and the right amount of sugar in the doughnut. It wasn’t too sweet!!

If you are looking for delicious and fresh Vegan doughnuts, I definitely recommend you guys check out Glory Hole Doughnuts at their bakeshop in Parkdale area of Toronto downtown.

Another refreshing and fresh frozen dessert that I didn’t mention is Happy Pops. They are all natural ice pops made from real fruit and low calorie. They are also vegan and dairy free ice pops.I also sampled one of their ice pops, I got the Mango flavour one not surprised since I love anything mango…😊 I loved it! You can taste the actual flavour of the fruit of mango and love how fresh it was with low calorie of sugar. I also recommend Happy Pops as well to try it yourself!

For more information on Happy Pops, you can visit their website at www.happypops.ca.

It has been another successful and delicious vegan summer festival that I attended with my sister. With summer coming to an end, I had enjoyed this summerattending to several foodie festivals by sampling new foods, interacting with vendors, learning about new food products and the outdoor atmosphere.

It will be a busy next few months before end of the year and I’m excited for next month Food Bloggers of Canadafood conference in Ottawa where this will be my 3rd year attending.I’m looking forward to sharing with you my readers my experience at the conference. Also working on something new for 2018 so stay tuned!!

Don’t forget to stay connected with me for the latest updates, next blog post, and my foodie adventures through Twitter@SweetBFoodie 24 and Instagram@SweetBFoodie24 (if you have noticed, I been posting a bit more on my IG stories so go check that out esp when I’m at a food event..😉 )

For now, let’s get ready for Fall weather with delicious warm desserts and beautiful colourful leaves scenery while still enjoying the sunny warm Fall days. In this summery festival blog, remembering what hot summer days are like enjoying delicious vegan foods. Back on my hunt to discover new bakeries or restaurants and new travel ideas to share with you guys!

Until next time….

-Sweet B.

For more information on Vegan Food & Drink Festival, please see below:

Is it getting chilly here or warm here in Toronto for this Fall weather, lol, it seems like the weather can’t make up it’s mind lol….I think I have to say that it is officially feels like Fallish weather!!! It’s been a busy few weeks for me with my Full time Admin job being busy and then of course two events that happened in one week so I been trying to do catch up. I hope that everyone have been enjoying the warm Fall early this October before the cold weather has hit as it is now November.

Quick Update

With my busy work schedule, I have decided that I will be doing monthly blog posts so at least one blog post per month until things have settled down with me in regards to my Full time Admin job. I still love working on this blog and still passionate for it especially after attending the FBC conference has inspired me more. I been working on the last few months to have this has my main focus and I haven’t quite gotten there yet. Hope you all will be patient with me and enjoy my monthly sweet blog posts! My special project is still coming end of November is the date of the launch. Look out for it soon!!

Without further delay, here are my highlights of this year Food Bloggers of Canada 2016 held in Toronto, warning it might be a bit long and filled with yummy food photos that might leave you a bit hungry after reading this blog post…:)

My Highlights of Food Bloggers of Canada 2016

This year Food Bloggers of Canada celebrated their 5th Year Anniversary in Toronto, where my hometown city is. They held their 4th Annual Food Bloggers of Canada Conference FBC2016 from October 21-23, 2016 at the Delta Toronto located in the heart of downtown’s bustling Entertainment District.

Saturday, October 22, 2016 – Day Before My Sunday Session

With this year FBC2016 being held in my city in Toronto, I decided for convenience and for a city getaway to stay overnight at Residence Inn Marriott Toronto Downtown for Saturday night. This year I was attending only the Sunday Session and with the early start for the session, I thought it was more convenient for me to stay closer to the conference hotel as I don’t live near downtown. I always love mini getaways and why not even in my own city as I still discover new places and restaurants in my own city of Toronto.

I arrived to Residence Inn Marriott Toronto Downtown late afternoon on Saturday, October 22, 2016. I chose this particular hotel as ever since I stayed at this brand of Marriott hotels with their spacious rooms including a kitchenette with a fridge, I really enjoyed it as they are known for Extended stays and it feels like you are in a bachelor apartment for a few days as some hotels have small rooms. I guess I just enjoy the more spacious rooms. This hotel wasn’t too far away from the conference hotel – Delta Toronto about 10 minutes walk to it so it was a convenient.

Residence Inn Marriott Toronto Downtown is located in the heart of the Entertainment District and steps to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Rogers Centre, Ripley’s Aquarium, Mirvish Theatre, CN Tower and the TIFF Bell Lightbox. All within 3 blocks distance to the hotel. Staying at the Residence Inn Marriott Toronto Downtown you can experience the fine dining, night life and theatres that are offered within. If you are taking the subway like I did, it wasn’t far walk from St.Andrew’s subway station to the hotel about less than 10 minutes walk.

My City View from my room

I had an amazing stay at the Resident Inn Marriott Toronto Downtown hotel and enjoyed what the hotel had to offer for me, though unfortunately didn’t have time to take a swim in their beautiful pool. Hopefully next time. I loved my corner suite with a king bed and sofa, which I loved the sofa as it was very comfy and the style I wanted in my own home one day. The service at this hotel was exceptional and friendly as I was greeted right away when I walked in to check-in the hotel and had no problems checking out. Amazing staff at this hotel with friendly & helpful front desk staff & doorman. I highly recommend this hotel if you are looking for a place to stay in Toronto!

After a busy work week, I spent my Saturday evening taking it easy starting off after I checked in the hotel – went shopping at the Eaton Centre and then a delicious dinner at Pickle Barrel trying their new addition to their menu – Local Harvest. Enjoyed their freshly made – Honey Apple Chicken topped with Ontario apples & cranberry chutney with local seasonal vegetables and fries. It was simply delicious!!! Definitely would come back to try their other new Local Harvest items on the menu. I spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the hotel since it was an early morning session for Sunday. For those who don’t know, I’m not a morning person lol…so it was a bit hard to get up lol…but for the delicious breakfast, it was all worth it…:)

Me relaxing at the hotel

Sunday, October 23, 2016 – Sunday General Sessions

On Sunday, October 23, 2016, it was Food Bloggers of Canada general sessions and on Saturday, October 24, 2016, this year was a bit different that they did workshops sessions, which I was unable to get tickets for that day too as it was sold out quickly. I’m hoping that I will be able to attend the full conference next year.

This year it will be my 2nd time attending this amazing & fun intimate conference for 150 food bloggers along with brands and speakers. If you haven’t been to this conference, then you are definitely missing out on a very foodie and networking event. Though this year, I felt like I wasn’t able to give my full attention to the conference for personal reasons and I felt like I couldn’t enjoy it as much! I tried to take in as much as I could and hoping I will be able to take away some information to focus on after the conference.

This year theme is: “Do the Work”. Food Bloggers of Canada put together this year their lineup of people who have done the work whether they have found success on their terms by doing what they love and by putting hours into it. Here are just some of the speakers that I heard that day including: Noelle Chorney, Claire Tansey, Dana Harrison & Joel MacCharles, Dennis Prescott, and more.

Starting Sunday Session with a wonderful and a selection of delectable variety of breakfast foods hosted by Breville Canada. Despite not being a morning person, it was hard to resist all the yummy and delicious foods, which I decided to have a light breakfast and sample a few of everything! My fave breakfast item was the pork breakfast slider, just the perfect little bite!! I also really enjoyed the Spinach, Green Apple, and Banana smoothie – the non-diary version. I loved the idea that all the breakfast foods was made using Breville Canada kitchen equipment and I simply love the very modern toaster to make my toast..:) Only recently for who don’t know, I have a mild lactose intolerance and I thought that it was great to see how Food Bloggers of Canada accommodate with the food allergies.

It was very inspiring to hear both speakers talk about their success and how each worked on where they are now. A few key notes I took away from these speakers are – to be happy & successful (which I really took to heart as I want to be at that place to where I am happy and I feel I haven’t gotten there just yet with my Full Time job, so I guess a bit insight for my readers, I’m still trying to find my happy place), being able to say no & yes and the question is “What do you love about it?” Some great key notes to think about and make goals for next year in 2017.

For Coffee Break, we had some delicious Fall-like treats sponsored by Crosbys Molasses. We had Gingersnaps with cream in the middle and I enjoyed the vegan version of it! Love how they can accommodate us like me who eat dairy-free foods!

The amazing view of the CN Tower and Rogers Centre from the conference hallway

It was great hearing Dennis speak from a photographer point of view and learn how he got into food photography. Key Notes I took away from Dennis – how to tell your story through a photo, the human element in a photo and take photos other than foods.

Dana Harrison & Joel MacCharles

3rd session – Stepping Outside Your Blog To Take It to the Next Level – Dana Harrison & Joel MacCharles

It was interesting and insightful to hear from the authors of “Batch” and their approach and how they got to be successful. Key Notes I took away are they mentioned: “Find Your North Star”, basically that means why are you doing this?, which I thought it’s such a simple question yet not quite an easy answer and Know your audience. As well, I thought it was a good idea that they mentioned that these days everything is electronic and they mentioned about having something physical for you to visual like for example if you did 30 blog posts have 30 pieces of pages in a binder and you can physically see it. I agree that sometimes you need something physical to see how things are in prospective.

Finishing off FBC2016 with a delicious & healthy lunch courtesy of Half Your Plate. Enjoyed the variety of veggies, fruits & meats that are available for everyone. My fave item for lunch was the beef and pork skewers, it was very tasty and grilled perfectly, I always love skewer foods lol!! Of course, we can’t forget desserts and they saved the best for last as they used Breville Canada’s mixer to make the most delicious Virtural Ice cream!! I was quite excited to see how they made it as they made it to you right in front of you and I was even more excited when they were making my fave flavor – mango..:) I enjoyed the dairy-free version of the mango ice cream with fresh raspberries and candies on top!! A great way to end the conference.

There were also one-on-one blogger/brand networking during the lunch. As most of the timeslots to speak with certain brands I was interested in was taken, I did end up speaking to Nature Path’s and enjoyed introducing myself and getting to know the brand a bit more. I’m looking to connect with other brands in the next conference and I guess one of my goals for 2017 is to connect and network with other brands.

Special thanks to Melissa and Ethan of course who put together this amazing conference every year for us food bloggers to get together, network, learn and grow in one united community!!! I can’t thank you guys enough, it has been another fantastic conference filled with these amazing speakers and sponsors!!! Every year it seems to grow and become a great conference making it annually something I always look forward to going to. It was great seeing a few familiar faces again and making new connections along the way again.

Some of the amazing sponsors at this year FBC2016 to name a few are: Breville Canada (love their tea maker, definitely need one), Half Your Plate, DeltaFaucet, Canadian Turkey, Lentils, Diary Farmers of Canada, Farm & Food Care Canada, Mushrooms Canada, Cookina, Ontario Apple Growers, Nature’s Path, Egg Farmers of Canada and more!! You can their links and connect with them from Food Bloggers of Canada website (will be listed below).

Of course, every year we get these amazing Swag bags, check out below some of the goodies I got this year! If there’s one way of tempting you to come this conference are these foodie filled swag bags!

Next year the FBC2017 conference, will be held in Ottawa in celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday and it will be Food Bloggers of Canada 5th Anniversary!! How exciting can this be?? Right now, Food Bloggers of Canada have an early bird ticket sale if you are interested in going!! Can’t wait to get my ticket soon!

I’m hoping that I will be able to attend the full conference next year!! See you guys next year in Ottawa!!

If you manage to read most of what I wrote, thank you. Probably my longest blog post, I hope that you enjoyed reading it and checking out some of my delicious and fun photos!!

After this inspiring and delicious foodie filled conference, I am in search for my next sweet vegan dessert place….:)

Until next time…

-Sweet B.

For more information on Food Bloggers of Canada community & conference & links to the sponsors,

Sorry for the delay everyone for not posting this earlier due to some technical difficulties with my cable last week, it is all fixed now & then I got sick lol! Lots of things happening at once, thank you once again for being so patient with me!

I’m back now from my sunny & a bit rainy Florida vacation!! It was definitely a nice & much needed break since starting my new full time Administrative job. I had an amazing time with my family enjoying the Disney side of things in Orlando! It’s been a month since my vacation and it has taken me a few weeks to get back into a swing of things and get settled again with unpacking & more!! I hope that you all didn’t miss me too much and wasn’t craving too much without my sweet posts…:) For those following me on my Instagram or Twitter will already have a sneak peek of my foodie & sunny Florida trip.

I am currently working on my next sweet post so something for you my readers to look forward to, it will be posted by the end of the month, so don’t forget to come back to check what my next sweet adventure is.

(At Magic Kingdom where the Magical Castle is)

In the meantime, I would like to share with you some of my sweet discoveries while I was on vacation in Orlando, Florida. If you are planning a trip to Orlando, if you are looking for some sweet bakery items a must stop is Carlo’s Bake Shop at the Florida Mall. If you haven’t heard of Carlo’s Bake Shop, Carlo’s is a family owned bakery featured on the TLC hit show Cake Boss. It’s one of the shows I love to watch as well as his other show, The Next Great Baker Show and I also saw Buddy Valastro in person at the Baking & Sweets Show a few years ago.

So when I heard that his bakery is at the Florida Mall, I had to of course stop by and check it out. When you first step into the store, you smell the aroma of sweet baked goods and a very friendly atmosphere in the store. There were so many delicious looking baked goods it was definitely hard to choose. I love the variety of selections that they offered and each one looked more appetizing than the other. I ended up trying my fave old-fashion oatmeal raisin cookies, it is probably one of the best oatmeal raisin cookies I ever had! It was soft & it literally melts in your mouth, wish I got more than 1 cookie lol! The size of the cookie was bigger than a normal size one, pretty big too. We also got some shortbread with jam cookies, delicious!! Check out some of the photos of Carlo’s Bakery at the Florida Mall. I hope one day to check out his original bake shop in New Jersey.

If you are in the Walt Disney World area, I definitely recommend you going to Disney Springs, which was formally known as Downtown Disney. It is an outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment complex that is going through a major expansion and a transformation. There are some parts of Disney Spring still under construction and new stores are still coming everyday.

(A view of part of Disney Springs)

With their variety & large selection of dining at Disney Springs, it’s hard to choose which restaurant, pub or dessert shop to go to. I would definitely recommend for a dessert place is, Amorette’s Patisserie, which is a sophisticated pastry shop filled with a delicate gallery of goodies from signature beautiful cakes, éclairs, cheesecakes, cookies and of course my fave macarons. The moment you enter the pastry shop, it feels like you are in a world of elegance and fine pastries from Paris, France with professional chefs to watch them decorate cakes. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to taste any of the sweet & fine delicious pastries that day due to time constraint and was very disappointed. I look forward to trying some next time I’m back at Disney Springs and know where to go for desserts as it was a very popular & recommended dessert place by many. If the photos I took doesn’t show how delicious some of their elegant desserts look to intrigue you to stop by then you are missing out on some fine pastries. I was able to check out the pastry shop at least, so please see below some of my delicious photos from Amorette’s Patisserie shop.

(Love these cute Mickey & Minnie cakes, very Disney like)

On a very hot day in Florida like the day I went, the perfect place to stop by in Disney Springs is, Vivoli Il Gelato, where they make with freshly made & finest ingredients the most delicious Italian gelato. This world-famous, family-run gelato shop from Florence, Italy finally chose to open its second storefront in Disney Springs. Besides gelato, they also offer sweet and savory baked goods in the bakery case that includes an assortment of panini sandwiches and traditional Italian cookies and tarts.

Vivoli Il Gelato is a small shop with no seating area inside but there is a small patio sitting area just outside the shop to enjoy your sweet cool treat!

If you are unsure of what flavour you would like to try, there offer samples to make your decision from the 24 flavours available. I ended up with two flavours my fave Strawberry & Mango, I love mango flavours and desserts!! It was simply delicious and tasted like authentic Italian gelato made smooth and melts in your mouth. I definitely recommend you drop by this sweet cool Italian spot to cool down!

Another sweet spot to mention is Sprinkles where you can find gourmet cupcakes. Unfortunately due to time constraint I was not able to stop by Sprinkles, but if I were to come back definitely will stop by to try a cupcake as they are well known for delicious cupcakes and Florida has the World’s Cupcake First ATM that dispenses freshly baked cupcakes, how cool is that??

(View of Sprinkles from across the water)

Those are a few of my recommendations if you are looking for some sweet baked goods & dessert places in Disney Springs.

My recommendations for the more savory/non-sweet places, in Disney Springs and Universal Studios Walk are the 2 main places to discover more restaurants to dine to fit any appetite in the Orlando, Florida area.

For one of our dinners, we went to Wolfgang Puck Grand Café in Disney Springs it is divided into 3 sections: express, café, and dine in. Wolfgang Puck is an Austrian-born American celebrity chef & well known restaurateur, so it is no surprise that I had to dine at one of his restaurants. It was my first time dining at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant and enjoyed his take on casual dishes with his homemade Austrian cuisine. I ordered the Rigatoni Bolognese pasta and thought it tasted pretty good, but to be honest I had more authentic Bolognese sauce. Overall, enjoyed my experience at Wolfgang Puck.

One of the places I love going to when I was in Orlando, Florida is the Universal Studios City Walkas we stayed near the Universal Studios side and if you didn’t, I definitely recommend you stopping by to check out this unique entertainment complex. Universal Studios City Walk is the entertainment and retail districts located adjacent to the theme parks of Universal Parks & Resorts. This is where one-of-kind-collection array of themed restaurants is available along with boutique shops prefect for anytime.

During my stay in Florida, I went to the Universal Studios City Walk several times dining at different restaurants that they offered, which I also recommend and dined at Hard Rock Café, NBC Sports Bar & Brew (you can check out my Instagram @SweetBFoodie24 for those food photos) and more.

(Evening view of Universal Studios Walk with the Globe)

If you are looking for some authentic Italian food, I definitely recommend Vivo Italian Kitchen as I love Italian food and of course while I’m on vacation love to have some Italian food. When I first went to Vivo Italian Kitchen, I was welcomed with a modern Italian decor but with the aroma of the old Italian cuisine of simmering sauces, freshly baked breads and freshly made pasta that is made right in front of you. The restaurant has the modern open concept kitchen that takes center stage where guests are able to observe the chefs cooking from fresh bread, preparing homemade mozzarella to fresh pasta.

I enjoyed the classic Parmigiano with chicken and marinara sauce with Raspberry Ice Tea (love my sweet teas and it was freshly brewed tea), it was simply delicious! It tasted like an authentic Italian meal with the sweet marinara sauce and freshly made pasta. Some of you many already seen this classic authentic meal on my Instagram account.

I would definitely recommend stopping by Universal Studios City Walk, it would be definitely worth to check out with the many dining options, shops and the beautiful atmosphere of Universal Studios that it has to offer.

Here are 2 more photos from my magical day at Magic Kingdom with my family, see below:

(Me with my sisters, my mom and my niece in front of the castle)

(My mom & me in front of the Mickey Mouse entrance at Magic Kingdom)

What a magical, sunny and sweet Disney Florida vacation I had filled with yummy treats, shopping, sunny poolside days and fun magical theme parks adventures! I hope that everyone has enjoyed reading my Florida foodie adventures and I look forward to sharing my upcoming summer adventures with everyone. There are a few exciting summer foodie festivals coming up and I can’t wait to taste & explore new foods to share with you all.

So please don’t forget to check my Twitter@SweetBFoodie24 or Instagram@SweetBFoodie24 accounts for updates on when my next post is coming or what foodie adventure I’m enjoying on a more daily basis.Don’t forget to come back in a few weeks for my next sweet post.

For now I leave you with my magical fairy dust of a sweet Disney adventure, until then…

-Sweet B.

For more information on any of the dessert places or restaurants in Orlando, Florida, see links below:

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my sweet readers 2day!! Valentine’s Day is a definitely one of those days that you don’t need an excuse for desserts as it is the perfect time to enjoy lots of yummy sweet desserts!! That is why I love celebrating these special occasions like these just to enjoy and satisfy my sweet cravings what a great excuse to have some desserts. On this special Valentine’s Day holiday, sharing my sweet desserts and my love to my 2 amazing sisters who are not just my sisters but also my best friends. Desserts always taste better when you share them with the ones you love!

This year I’m celebrating Valentine’s Day with Bobbette & Belle, an artisanal pastries shop featuring their baked goods made fresh and everything is baked from scratch with their finest ingredients. I stopped by their 2nd location at their Yonge shop (Yonge Lawrence Village area) for the first time. Bobbette & Belle has 2 locations with their first shop located in the heart of Leslieville area on Queen Street.

I have been always wanting to try Bobbette & Belle and for some reason never tried it until now, which the question is why have I been waiting this long to go to Bobbette & Belle? No idea ‘cause it, I absolutely fell in love with this chic, elegant, yet cozy & welcoming shop!!

Bobbette & Belle is known for their lavish & elegant wedding cakes, their famous cupcakes and delicious French macarons. They also offer other baked goods including scones, croissants, pies, tortes, cookies, and more! Drinks include their famous homemade hot chocolate served with toasted marshmallow, espresso-based coffees and a wide range of teas. I tried their Hot Cider especially on one of the coldest day and wow simply delicious, I loved it!! Bobbette & Belle also offer their services to provide corporate sweet events and gift ideas as well.

My Take-out Hot Cider Outside

My 1st experience with Bobbette & Belle was simply amazing, as mentioned I instantly fell in love with this cozy & elegant pastry shop. I went on the coldest day in Toronto but it was definitely worth it. I entered the shop with the warm smell of baked goods and sweet smell of coffee too. I love the warm, quiet chatter atmosphere as I entered the shop. It was actually quite busy when I went but I was still greeted by one of the servers and didn’t felt rushed to decide which delicious desserts to get as there were so many to choose from. I wanted to try them all lol!! Great customer service for sure. I simply love their Valentine’s Day decorations as well, check out some of my photos below!

After finally deciding on which desserts to take home with me to share with my sisters, I ended up with a pack of 6 macarons, which flavours I picked was: the special Valentine’s Day flavour – Strawberry Champagne, 2 Raspberries, Chocolate, Pistachio and Passionfruit. Of course I had to try one of their delicious cupcakes as I been craving for cupcakes so I chose their Vanilla Raspberry & Mango Passionfruit Buttercream Coconut cupcakes. And I have to say these are one of the best cupcakes I ever had, the Vanilla Raspberry one was simply delicious, I loved their icing and usually icings are very very sweet and this one was not, it was made fresh and real Raspberry pieces was inside the icing and I never had icing made like this and loved it!! The cake itself was light and fluffy, loved it, this is almost a perfect cupcake..:) I also couldn’t resist those special Valentine’s Day Shortbread cookies, how can you? LOL!! I love cookies as well. So I had to at least try one and it was almost too pretty to eat with the sparkly icing, it was light and perfect!

I have to add that I love Bobbette & Belle adorable boxes that they put the desserts in, it is very elegant and chic, loved it!!! I’m keeping them! 🙂

I look forward to coming back to visit Bobbette & Belle as I definitely have to come back to try their other sweet desserts as I saw their apple tart and simply looked delicious. I definitely would love to sit and enjoy a cup of tea there as well as it looks like a cozy spot especially on the weekends to warm up or enjoy a simple and elegant dessert. I hope that you would come and see this little chic and cozy bakery shop yourself, I definitely recommend it!!

Hope that everyone is having a sweet Valentine’s Day celebrating with your loved ones!! Hope everyone had a yummy dessert on Valentine’s Day too. If you haven’t had a sweet dessert yet, there’s still time if you are in Canada and those who have a long Family Day weekend like me why not check out Bobbette & Belle for your sweet cravings! Definitely check out Bobbette & Belle on any occasion not just Holidays, they offer so many wide selection of fresh and high-end quality desserts, it’s simply worth it to check out anytime!

I hope that everyone enjoyed my Valentine’s Day special post, until my next sweet adventure….

Happy Chinese New Year aka Gong Hey Fat Choy to all my sweet Asian followers & also to those who also celebrate Chinese New Year! It’s a special month for me as this past weekend is the start of a celebration for a New Year in the Asian culture, the Year of the Monkey! There are many preparations for Chinese New Year so it’s been quite the busy week for me with the tradition of a clean household so I been busy cleaning and of course all the delicious tradition Chinese food I will be enjoying this week with my family.

In honor of this special celebration for Chinese New Year, I am sharing with you this hidden little gem of an Asian dessert café called: Sweet Pea Dessert Café, which is located at Yonge and Sheppard, just steps away from the subway. I only discovered this hidden little café recently and been looking to fulfill my sweet authentic Asian craving in the North York area as most of the places I go to is usually in Markham or downtown. I was pleasantly surprised to find this little café, which if you didn’t know it is a branch of Hung Fook Tong, another Asian dessert place.

Don’t let their English name, Sweet Pea Dessert Café fool you with their selection of sweet, fresh, authentic and oriental desserts. Their mission is to serve delicious and healthier alternative desserts, which for me is a great idea for someone who loves desserts and my sweets to try something healthier but still enjoying what I love desserts!

Sweet Pea Dessert Café has a wide selection and variety to choose from and it was hard for me to actually choose what I wanted to try. They offer a selection of fresh fruit desserts, sweet pea dumplings, Chinese cakes & puddings, cupcakes, apple pie, crépes, waffles, and they are best known for their delicious Crème Brûlée.

I been to Sweet Pea Dessert Café a couple of times now since discovering this cafe as I had to go back to try more of their desserts because they had lots of other yummy desserts and even drinks to try. I simply love their drinks selection from their green tea lemonade to fruity teas to fresh fruit drinks to herbal teas to hot drinks, you can find it all here!! Now that I know this café exists I always love that I can stop by for a quick drink to go!

One of the times I stopped by Sweet Pea Dessert Café on a Sunday, I enjoyed their signature Mango Supreme w/ Fresh Mango Dice, it was delicious! I love any mango desserts, it’s so hard for me to resist lol!! I loved it just as good as the Asian dessert places in Markham. I also had the most delicious & authentic Honey Lemon Tea, I been to a few places to enjoy simple Honey Lemon Tea and you can tell when it is made authentic and simply perfect and this one was made just perfect.

This is a relatively small but very cozy café with a very inviting atmosphere. I love that there are buzzer button on the tables to request for service. The customer service at this café from both times I been there the server was very friendly and quick.

Another time I dropped by Sweet Pea Dessert Café, I tried their refreshing Very Berry Green Tea Lemonade, but the server was nice enough to accommodate me with for just a Raspberry Green Tea Lemonade. Loved how it was light, healthy and fresh fruits in the drink! I also got takeout of course a mango dessert, I tried their Fresh Mango Roll and overall it was pretty good even though the mango itself was a bit hard so it wasn’t as sweet as I would have liked it. That would be my only small complain about it but otherwise this café has been nothing but simply delicious and good. I’m looking forward to coming back to this café to try other desserts like the mango pudding and more of the sweet healthy fruit tea drinks!

Takeout Menu

If you are looking for an authentic Asian dessert café with healthier options, but still have the sweet taste to satisfy your sweet cravings, definitely check out this little hidden gem, Sweet Pea Dessert Café. I definitely would recommend it if you are looking for an Asian dessert café in the North York area or if you are not, come drop by it will definitely be worth to satisfy your sweet cravings! They also have another location in Scarborough as well if you live closer there to try it.

I hope that you all have enjoyed a little taste of my Asian culture sweet side for desserts.

I would like to wish all my sweet readers all the happiness, prosperous, successful & good health in theYear of the Monkey!!

Don’t forget to come back next weekend for my Valentine’s Dayspecial blog post, wonder what sweet dessert place would I share next with you! Come back and see for yourself! Until then, searching for my next sweet adventure…

About Me

Hi, welcome to my blog! My name is Bonnie and I love desserts & sweets!! I have quite the sweet tooth!

I love to discover new places to fulfill my sweet cravings and sharing my food experiences with others, which is why I started this blog!

I'm Half Vegan as I follow a dairy free diet because of my food sensitivities. I still love my sweets and desserts, but now I discover new dairy free desserts and even healthier desserts that still taste delicious & sweet to share with my readers. I also love discovering new Vegan places too. Along with my passion for travelling & attending food events, makes up my blog to share with you.

Please join me in my sweet foodie discovery one adventure at a time!

Thanks everyone for dropping by!! I hope that you enjoy your sweet visit! Please do drop me a comment to say hi or any of your thoughts or a suggestion for me to try a new place! I love to hear from you!!